"Death is only the beginning." You hear that all the time. Maybe it is, for the soul who passes on. But what about the ones who are left behind?

I lost my husband unexpectedly in a tragic accident and now have to move back to my childhood home in New Orleans. Thank God for my friends Wesley and Paige. I’d be absolutely lost without them. As I pick up the pieces of what is left of my life, we settle back into our old routines. That is until I hire Olivier to work for me. Now my world is once again turning upside down as the people I’m closest to, old and new, shed the skin of what is familiar and ultimately redefine the nature of our relationships. Couple all of this with the return of my debilitating headaches and ominous dreams of green fire, and well, I’m just at a loss.

What do you do when what you thought you knew turns out to be wrong? What do you do when you find out you can’t trust the people closest to you? What do you do when you keep trying to move forward but life keeps getting in the way? And given all of this, how am I supposed to figure out who Charlotte Grace is now?

~Guest Post!~

The Charlotte Grace series, in many ways, is a love letter
to New Orleans. I am a southern girl
and, while I’m not a Louisiana native, I am a graduate of Louisiana State
University. I spent four and a half
glorious, formative years in Baton Rouge with many a trip into the heart of a
city I love.

Now, some of you may ask why New Orleans? Some of you may think you know why a young
adult would want to live around a city of excess. But here’s the truth. I have family roots tied to New Orleans and
LSU. I recently learned that my family
once owned one of the oldest and premiere, touring cemeteries in the city. While Mardi Gras is quite the display of
excess of all kinds, I have family in many of the Krewes. But it’s the diverse
culture of the city that drew me in.
Voodoo and witchcraft. Vampires
and ghosts. The ultimate playground for
the undead of any kind.

Which is what brings us back to what this has to do with my
book. Throughout the series you’ll
follow the lives of Charlotte Grace, Wesley Breaux, Olivier Cheval, and Paige
Lochs. Yet, New Orleans is almost a
fifth character. You’ll experience a
Mardi Gras Ball and Christmas. You’ll eat
at Café Du Monde, Brigsten’s, and Coop’s Place.
You’ll get the feel for modern living in a plantation and in the Garden
District. Key scenes take place at many
historic locations throughout the city, from The Saenger and Fritzel’s to
Southern Oaks Plantation and the Bourbon Orleans Hotel.

For me, New Orleans was the only city who could host this
story and hopefully inspire your imagination to believe it.

~Try an Excerpt!~

PAIN! It was the only
thought I had. There were voices but
they were muffled even though they were loud and angry. It was as if their volume kept me from being
able to understand anything other than that someone was present. But they didn’t matter. All that mattered was the pain.

It surrounded me. It
crushed me from the outside. It pushed
on me from the inside. The muscles in my
body were so tense I thought they’d shred my bones. My head felt as though it was going to
explode. I wanted it to explode! If it was gone I couldn’t experience this
pain.

Something hit me, knocking my eyes open. Through the fog I could make out the carpet
of my bedroom. I must have fallen out of
bed. I haven’t had that dream since
college. That eerie green fire that
engulfed me. It’s the only thing I ever
remembered about those dreams. But I was
more than familiar with the aftermath.
The throbbing headache that no pill could cure. The only remedy? Sleep.

But this time it was different. This time my entire body was throbbing as if
I’d run a marathon I hadn’t prepared for.
There was a pain in my chest that turned my stomach. I crawled into the bathroom and made it to
the toilet just in time.

I don’t know how long I laid in my bathroom. After losing my stomach I didn’t have the
energy to move. Normally after the
dreams I’d roll over and find sleep quickly.
The next time I woke up I would be good as new. But the effects of this dream lingered. That was until a voice pulled me out of my
misery. “Charlotte!” my mother-in-law
called. I couldn’t answer. She found me quickly. “Dear God!
They said no one reached you yet!”

I opened my eyes and saw her panicked, tear-stained
face. Something wasn’t right. I tried to ask after my nieces. No words passed my open mouth.

She helped me sit up. Once she was done talking I wished she’d never
found me. “Charlotte, he’s gone.” I didn’t need clarification even though she
gave it to me. The truth was written all
over her. My chest suddenly felt
empty. The facts didn’t matter. I knew it in my soul. “Giles is dead.”

~Meet PM Briede!~

I am a lover
of all things artistic. I grew up surrounded by the performing arts both as a
spectator and performer. That love of creation and design is the fuel for my
writing now. Being able to create and entertain is a dream come true.

The
imagination is a powerful thing, able to take you places you never dreamed. I
write realistic fantasy. The idea of the possible having impossible
explanations fascinates me. That idea is the driving force behind the Charlotte
Grace series.

If you are
interested in receiving updates when I release new books, please visit me on
Facebook at http://facebook.com/pm.briede or follow me on Twitter @PMBriede.

The auther will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.